This was always going to happen really wasn’t it? I’m not even going to feign surprise here.

After their $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype in 2011, you would be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft had bigger plans for it than merely allowing dogs to talk to each other via Skype’s voice client (we have that video for you after the break).

And so, as somebody with half a brain might reasonably infer, not only is that cornerstone of our teenage years in MSN Messenger being replaced by Skype, but apparently so will Xbox Live Chat be as well.

This is all according to gaming website CVG who has been informed by someone “familiar with the matter” that Microsoft would be “consolidating all their communications tech” around Skype; likely pointing to a full-on integration of the platform in Microsoft’s next-generation console offering as the default and primary chat service allowing for asynchronous voice and video messaging.

The CVG report is ably backed up by the fact that recently, the Redmond based software giant stuck up a job advert seeking individuals who could be willing to work with the company’s new direction of being “focused on enabling amazing new in-game and in-console voice and video experiences for the next generation of Xbox“.

So yeah, expect Skype in your next Xbox console. Probably.

And no, we haven’t forgotten; canine communication is a big thing you know. Check it out after the break.